'Recycle versus buy' scenarios in manufacturing strategy decisions: an empirical study

Shellyanne Wilson

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2020, vol. 36, issue 4, 455-479

Abstract: This paper examines the 'recycle versus buy' decision-making process, which is becoming a critical decision area for companies operating in the plastics, paper, rubber and metal industries. Via the use of scenario analysis, applied in an in-depth case study that uses plastic buckets for packaging, decision alternatives and uncertainties are considered. The scenario analysis produced nested scenario logics, comprising four bases: volume of used-material collected; cost of used-material collection; cost of virgin material; and performance of new product made with high/low ratio of virgin material to recycled material, resulting in 16 possible scenario combinations. For each combination, market, technical and financial feasibility are examined. For each scenario, a single decision alternative was selected from these four possible decision alternatives: full backward integration, taper integration, partial integration and no integration.

Keywords: manufacturing strategy; decision making; recycle versus buy; scenario analysis. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=109010 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijsoma:v:36:y:2020:i:4:p:455-479

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Services and Operations Management from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sarah Parker ().